DESPITE Ally's ordeal, trying his hand at boxing seemed the ideal way to continue his miraculous recovery.

TEXAS rocker Ally McErlaine has taken up boxing after battling back from the brain aneurysm that nearly killed him.

The guitarist technically died twice in 2009 but is now well enough to go on tour with his old band, as well as his own outfit, Red Sky July, who supported Wet Wet Wet at Glasgow Green last month.

Despite his ordeal, trying his hand at boxing seemed the ideal way to continue his miraculous recovery.

Ally, 43, said: “I’ve been discharged from care of the hospital now.

“I find it hard to believe that it happened. I feel so normal now.

“I am doing boxing training and jogging and doing two bands at the one time. I’ve been told there is as much chance of it happening again as anyone else has.

“I am free to go back and be as I was. It is kind of unbelievable.”

Ally is busy playing with his two bands and their music gives him more pleasure than ever.

He said: “Texas are doing 15 gigs and Red Sky July have 10.

“It is strange playing with two different bands in two days and trying to retain all the information.

“Texas is a big rock show and Red Sky July is a lot quieter and I’m using different equipment for each show. The normal craziness has returned.”

Ally’s wife Shelly Poole, also a member of Red Sky July, wrote a book about dealing with his illness.

But Ally admitted that reading it was a real eye-opener.

He said: “Shelly’s book was a shock to me. I read it in one night when she finished writing it and I thought, ‘No way, did that happen?’

“I don’t remember any of it. It is a bit of a page-turner.

“I couldn’t believe all those things she wrote about had happened to me because I wasn’t aware of what was going on at the time.

“It was a shock and some of it was quite gruesome. I hope the book will help other people who have gone through something like this.

“At the same time I am trying to forget about all that and move on.”

Speaking after his new band performed at the Belladrum Tartan Heart music festival in the Highlands at the weekend, Ally added: “I played Belladrum when they headlined the festival last year. This time we are in a tent.

“I thought it was brilliant last year even though it was muddy. It was wet last year so it is great that the weather is so good this year.”

After fighting back to fitness, Ally was recently voted Scot of the Year by the London charity Scotscare.

He said: “I did get invited to a dinner at the Houses of Parliament but I couldn’t go because I had a gig that night.

“There’s no prize for being the Scot of the Year. It’s just a bit of fun really.

“I’m not bothered whether I get an invite from Alex Salmond. If there is free pie and chips, I might think about it.”